James the Brother of Jesus : The Key to Unlocking the Secrets
of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls
by Robert Eisenman
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Paperback - 1112 pages (March 1998)
Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 014025773X ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.01 x
8.44 x 5.51
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 21,918
Avg. Customer Review:
Number of Reviews: 21
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Reviews
Amazon.com
James the Brother of Jesus is the first in a projected two-volume examination
of early
Christianity. The author, Robert Eisenman, has visited this subject many
times in earlier
books concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls. While most experts agree that the
scrolls were
written by various Jewish groups between 150 B.C. and A.D. 66, Eisenman
contends
that they are actually the work of first-century Christians. He goes so
far as to link St.
James, the brother of Jesus, with the "Teacher of Righteousness," and St.
Paul with the
"Man of the Lie" mentioned in the texts. In James the Brother of Jesus,
he expands this
theory to cover a complete history of early Christianity and the Temple
Judaism in which
the former resists the dominant Greco-Roman culture and the latter adapts
to it. --This
text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Amazon.com
Robert Eisenman, one of the most eminent researchers of early Christianity
working
today, has produced an exhaustive study of the historical milieu at the
time of Jesus and
come to the conclusion that James, rather than Peter, was heir to his teachings.
Because
the historical material regarding James is actually quite plentiful, a
clear picture arises not
only in regard to who James was, but by extension, who Jesus was also.
Controversy is
assured; still, given a patient reading, one will discover that Eisenman's
research is
meticulous, his arguments cogent, and his conclusions persuasive. This
should prove to
be a popular and influential book. --This text refers to an out of print
or unavailable
edition of this title.
The New York Times Book Review, Anthony J. Saldarini
He will not persuade many because his conclusions are improbable, his arguments
incoherent and his prose impossible ... He says James, who kept alive the
real teaching
of Jesus and whose story was suppressed in Jewish and Christian writings,
was the rival
of accommodationist high priests and the authentic leader of the Jewish
community. In
arguing this bizarre thesis, Mr. Eisenman ignores the normal canons of
historical
argument and of literary analysis. He treats later Christian sources, which
contain
legendary material, as historically reliable ... In Mr. Eisenman's hands
... legend
becomes simple history. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable
edition of this
title.
From Booklist , February 1, 1997
For those interested in early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls, this
hefty volume
looks irresistible. Not only does Eisenman, a longtime scrolls scholar,
cast his gaze on
James, the brother of Jesus, a fascinating but little-understood biblical
character, but he
also links early Christianity with the community at Qumran, whose members
are thought
by many to be the writers of the ancient scrolls. Unfortunately, those
eager to be educated
on those topics will find Eisenman rough going. Not only is the book almost
1,000 pages
long, a good part of it will be comprehensible only to those with advanced
knowledge of
the subjects. Eisenman himself suggests that readers of his book should
have in front of
them a copy of the New Testament, a translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
and the works
of the ancient Jewish historian Josephus. Actually, this is a helpful suggestion,
but how
many of us can find our copy of Josephus? This is the sort of book that
will attract
considerable attention and even some requests in public libraries. Whether
it will be read
is another issue. Ilene Cooper
Copyright© 1997, American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers
to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Click here for all reviews...
Customer Comments
Average Customer Review: Number of Reviews: 21
David Gladstone (d1494@pacbell.net) from San Francisco CA , July 28,
1999
Eisenman's opening volley?
After devoting considerable time reading and re- reading Dr.Eisenman's
book, I must say
that it's about time a blast of common sense refreshes the rarified and
stuffy air of
Biblical scholarship.Eisenman's appreciation for the people of the history
and their
motivations, shed much light where there has been mostly shadow. His original
and
common sense based speculations and intuitive knowledge of human nature
make
James..a must read. despite the challenge to Christianity implicit in this
book, Eisenman
steps on as many Jewish toes as Christian, and he never foregoes an opportunity
to
tweak the noses of the Rabbinic Jews, by daring to question the doings
of their putative
leaders. As the tireless Eisenman untangles the spaghhetti of rewrites
and wipes and
emmendations that give us our warped view of Jesus and the Jews and the
threat they
represented to the established order, the Pax Romana of the first century
ce. . One has
only to look at the Polemics of Qumram and those of Paul to see the trail
of influence.
Eisenman need not be correct about every particular to have given us a
brand new view of
history that resonates like no other.Having been to the Dead Sea and Qumram
and slept
out on the plain of Moab facing the ruined escarpment of Sodom and Gomorah,
and
knowing the harsh necessities such conditions enforced on those who lived
there- it
becomes very clear that such a world was very small- the so called Essenes
( zealots/
Sicarii) were not an isolated bunch of pacifists or dropped out hermits
despite the
irrational insistence of the NT and the Christian fathers who claim such
influential
characters as John the Essene aka John the Baptist could possibly be separate
from the
Yahad,'the community of the righteous'. The eschatological hard rain promised
at
Qumram does not come with a turning of one's cheek, but with a sword and
this sword
pointed at Rome. One of the most important points that Eisenman makes is
with regard to
the family of Jesus, called the Desposyni. He shows the calculated will
behind the
stealing of Jesus' identity by Paul who created Christ Jesus. This happened
to Jesus and
his family in spades over the course of the few hundred years following..
We see the NT
and many later Christian texts, remove Jesus from his family, his nation
and his people,
isolating him, removing him from his patrimony, setting the stage for the
Church's
historical crimes against the Jews. If Eisenman did nothing else but force
us to to see the
man behind the mask of Saul/Paul, that would make the whole course of study
required
well worth the trip, but indeed there is much more. If one reads Tacitus
and Acts, it is
easy to see how Rome's most determined enemy became by proxy the enemy
of much of
the world and we know the sad truth of that, the holocaust is only the
most recent and
severe exponent of this. It is important to think about why the Roman's
'turned' a
number of the most important actors of this messianic tableaux into collaborators.
Eisenman's James, the Brother of Jesus creates a tapestry, but not out
of whole cloth, but
rather by untangling threads and brushing away the historical detritus,
the fictions and
slanders that have become orthodoxy. The dogmatic slumber which the mainstream
academics and Dead Sea scroll scholars have sentenced us to is over. The
echoes of
Eisenman will shake the crockery and destroy some illusions, but such an
affect is
desirable at this point. From the throne mysticism of Ezekiel and the such
'hidden ones'
as Honi the Circle Drawer to the messianic exegetes of Qumram, to Mani
and
Mohammed, influnced by Sabaean followers of the Desposyni(family of Jesus)
to the
Kabbalah and Sufism in Spain in the 13th century which led to the Rennaisance,
the trail
of esoteric knowledge points out the direction of history, the cyclicity
of history, and the
potency of uncovering the truth, even at this late date, will no doubt
have a salutary effect
on future generations. I can hardly wait to see the promised second volume
of
Eisenman's paradigm breaking history.
A reader from Palo Alto, CA , May 18, 1999
Unique, therefore a five, but needs editing and organizing
The author is the only writer presenting this unique and compelling view
of James,
therefore it is a must read. However, his style is rambling and repetitive.
Editing and
organizing the material would increase its readability. When is the next
volume coming
out?
A reader from south carolina , February 13, 1999
Excellent
Excellent book. It reveals the political aspects of the Bible. Anyone who
enjoys this work
should aquaint themselves with the Piso conspiracy theory. This book borders
on the
theory, but never mentions it. I wonder if the author is aware of the idea
that the Piso
family authored many of the New Testament texts as an effort to calm the
rebellious
messianic Jews.
A reader from San Francisco, California , December 29, 1998
Three Cheers
for Robert
Eisenman and "James the Brother of Jesus : The Key to Unlocking the
Secrets
of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls"
In Media res- I'm still engaged in reading this monumental and courageous
work but was
tempted away from the 'Stoning of James at Nag Hamadi' by the review of
this book in
the New York Times- another in a series of book reviews in which laziness
and pc (left)
dogma seem to becoming standard for the once proud Times . Prof. Eisenman
lovingly
and painstakingly makes his case- the level of his scholarship is a pleasure
to read and the
data is presented in such a way that one is not at all swamped, but pleasantly
surrounded.
His ability to teach makes a better scholar of the reader, taking one into
the process,
inviting further exploration. He does not flinch at demolishing sham historical
edifices be
they beloved dogma or Gospel personages revered unquestioningly by millions
for nearly
2,000 years. Eisenman blazes a trail that points to Qumram as a major nexus
of
religious/political influence, which spawned a national movement which
threatened
Rome's preeminence-the epic battle which followed has sent its reverberations
down the
centuries. As one who has walked that desolate road blow Qumram gazing
toward the
ruined precincts ofSodom and Gomorrah, it is all too evident that, in the
"Holy Land',
among those 'zealous for the Lord', all roads led to Qumram. Indeed, the
Romans made
Qumram one of their first stops in their quest to end the Jewish uprising.
Dr. Eisenman
shows how the Roman influence upon the nature of Christianity as we know
it, was
paramount- How important Paul's Roman citizenship really was. The main
'Paulist'
Christian expositors such as Eusebius, Hegesippus, Justin Martyr, Jerome
and
St.Augustine, molded the faith to the bones of the empire, becoming one
with it.
Eisenman shows what happened to those elements of Judaism/Christianity
which were
exiled to the margins of civilzation, when the scrolls were burning at
Nicea and
elsewhere, only to once again burst into flame a millenia later in the
Zohar and other
Kabbalist explorations, seeding the Renaissance to come.